The Globe and Mail reported today that current Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has admitted handing an un-tendered contract to Hugh Macphie, a one-time speechwriter for former-Ontario premier Mike Harris, to work on last year’s budget speech.
The article indicated that “Treasury Board guidelines require multiple bids for contracts over $25,000.”
While Canadian politicians are busy accusing Flaherty of administrative murder, I am yet to see anyone clearly and directly raise the following two obvious points:
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The ironic audacity of a fiscal department paying $122K to someone to write a budget speech, and
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The inference that neither Canada’s top finance politician nor any of his aides are able to write a speech about the subject matter of which they are assumed to be experts.
What age do we live in when our elected leaders are unable to string thoughts together in written format that can be delivered orally in a clear, concise, and inspiring manner while adhering to the objectives of their political agenda?
I understand that a Minister’s time may not afford for such trivial, administrative tasks, but to suggest that a few hours of his time are worth more than $122,000 is preposterous! In the same issue of the Globe and Mail, an executive coach (Jerome Shore) indicates that business owners and executives should outsource a business task only if it can be done “cheaper than your hourly rate or better than you can do it“.
A 2004 CBC News report notes that a Cabinet Minister’s annual salary is around $230,000. If we assume 8-hour work days and 12 weeks of paid vacations (3 months), that leaves us with 40 work weeks at 5 days per week times 8 hours per day, totalling to a rough 1600 of ‘billable’ hours. At $230,000 per annum, this translates to a (possibly wildly inaccurate) rate of $144 per hour for the Cabinet Minister’s time.
Some reports estimate the size of the speech in question to be around 5500 words. Let’s call it an even 6000 words. From my earlier days in university, I think it used to take me about 2 hours of serious thinking to churn 1000 words of polished literature (I am not the brightest bulb on the tree).
So, 6000 words would take a not-so-bright university student about 12 hours of work. At $144 per hour, 12 hours of the Minister’s time costs tax payers $1730. Meanwhile, 12 hours of Hugh MacPhie’s time cost the government a whopping $122,000 CDN of my dear, dear tax dollars.
So, it appears that outsourcing the task, in this case, was not cheaper. According to Jerome, that only leaves one other justification.
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I get paid to write reviews and commentary on my blog. 100 words can be worth anywhere from $10 to $60 for me. So writing that speech would be equivalent to well under $5,000 for me. I was the top public speaker in Halifax County 4-H back in the mid 80s. Someone hook me up with a speech writing jig already.
I would just like to make a point a point that you made issmat
“The inference that neither Canada’s top finance politician nor any of his aides are able to write a speech about the subject matter of which they are assumed to be experts”.
Do you really believe that our elected members of parliment or any elected member for that reason has any experience in what they have been designated to do. Most if not all of these people worked as a director or CEO for some company and now want to be elected to help get contracts for those they have close ties too. Anyway it’s just a thought buddy an that all these people we elect are only where they are because they have money or access to it.